The Petal Falls Twice
by sleepy-emo
Summary: When Radiant Gardens locals are going missing, struggling writer Lumaria seems not to notice. But when his friend Lea goes missing and re-appears in a long black cloak talking about joining 'The Organisation' he is thrust into a world of darkness. Will he find the strength to defeat his friend or lose himself to the darkness as well? Rated for violence, horror and language.
1. Chapter 1

**This story was pretty much my baby throughout all of 2013 and I thought it was high time I actually uploaded it. it was going to be a oneshot but after 12000 words and n****ot even half way through I put it into chapters. After looking into the back-stories of Organisation XIII I realised that some of them didn't have one so this is basically my version of Marluxia before he became a Nobody. I could write more in this AN but I'd rather just let you guys read. Hope you like it also the exert at the beginning if from an actual story I found online, when I read it my reaction was the same as his haha**

_Melissa derived satisfaction from this comment, despite the mangled pronunciation of her name. She could feel her horny levels rising 30% and her hooha was getting right slimy with anticipation of participation._

_ "Gary, me need sex now inside please." Damn! Melissa thought. I wish there was a better way to say that!_

_ Gary was only too eager to comply. He wrenched his peeny away from Melissa's grubby paws and thrust inside her hooha with a thunderous orgasm. She was pregnant, but that could be dealt with in the morning, provided she was still alive._

_ "Outstanding stuff, Melanie," Gary chortled. "I know I could just go to sleep now, but I would like to continue satisfying you, sans peeny."_

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What the fuck am I reading? This has to be a troll! At least my writing is better than that, even though most of my days are filled with me staring at the cursor blinking on and off on my computer screen as I scramble for an idea – any idea – to pop into my head.

In case you hadn't guessed I'm a writer. I know what you're thinking; everyone with Microsoft Word and a basic understanding of the English Language thinks they're the next E.L. James or something these days. Personally I set my sights a little higher :- a new-age Oscar Wilde or T.S. Eliot or another of histories great writers, not someone who makes a living re-cycling plot lines and jumping on the next proverbial band-wagon that comes their way. Having said that I did have a number of ideas for different vampire novels but after the Twilight Saga (which technically is a cycle because there are only four books) was published I scrapped the lot of them.

There are draw-backs to classing yourself as a writer. For one thing when you tell people they give you this look as if to say 'why? Why on earth would you choose a career where you have little to no money for the vast majority of your life.' For another thing you have little to no money for the vast majority of your life. Despite that, though, I still do it – it's my passion. It's like an addiction to me. Some people are addicted to football, cars or updating their facebook status with pointless drivel that no one really gives a shit about. My addiction is sitting in front of my laptop, cup of coffee in hand, music on, and letting my fingers do the talking. Well...it was until my current bout of 'writers block' set in.

It started a couple of months ago. I was in the middle of the climactic scene of my début novel – a tragic love story between a man on the brink of suicide and his guardian angel – when I couldn't complete the chapter I was writing. Actually never mind the chapter I could barely complete the sentence! I no longer found interest in my characters; I no longer cared for them and once the emotional connection was gone the plot line alluded me. Every time I sat down at my computer to write I ended up surfing the internet for bad stories in the attempt to convince myself that I'm not a terrible writer and that I'm not wasting my life.

So that is what my days have been filled with :- I wake up, pour myself a coffee, stare at the cursor blinking on my computer screen for about half an hour, give up and read internet fiction then wander round the flat I share with my friend Lea muttering affirmations of my writing capabilities to myself like some paranoid schizophrenic. I was in this state of the day when my friend Lea came home and found me.

"Bad day?" he asked dumping his tote bag by the front door and throwing himself down on the sofa.

"Normal day." I replied, sitting down at my desk with my back to him and resting my forehead against the edge of my laptop, the story of Melissa and Gary's exploits still offending the screen.

A flash a red invaded my vision and I felt Lea's arms wrap around my neck as he hugged me, placing his head on top of mine. Lea had always been a very touchy-feely person; when I first met him it creeped me out but over the years I got used to it. I have known Lea since we were seven; we went through school together and after we graduated we moved into a shared flat in the cheapest (and, if I'm honest, shittest) part of Radiant Gardens. I leaned my head back on Lea's shoulder, allowing him to view what was on the screen.

"The fuck is this?" he asked.

"I don't even know." I replied, sighing. Lea reached over and closed the program down to reveal my half finished chapter underneath.

"Why are you reading this shit?" he asked.

"I don't even know." I said again, rubbing my eyes in frustration. "I guess I was trying to make myself feel better about my writing." Lea squeezed me into the hug in an attempt to comfort me.

"You're a good writer Ria." he stated. I wish he wouldn't call me Ria; Lumaria is a girlie enough name without him shortening it to an actual girl's name. "You're just going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment."

"I guess." I sighed, he squeezed me again.

"Keep your chin up, it'll come back to you." He clapped me on the shoulder and returned to the sofa. "Hey I sold a painting today." he added as an after-thought stretching himself out. Lea is an artist, he mostly does sketches for architectural firms but sometimes he manages to sell one of his paintings, he also doubles as my illustrator when I need images to go with my stories.

"That's great, which one?" I asked. I was genuinely happy for him; just because my career was going down the pan didn't mean I wished everyone else was in the same boat as me.

"The one where you and Arlene posed as Romeo and Juliet." he stated, picking up a note-pad from the floor and beginning to doodle. Lea never stops being an artist, even when he's not working on a building design, a painting or something for me he always draws in his spare time. He says he needs the practice but he really doesn't.

"That's a good painting, I like that one." I said. Lea looked up from his doodling and smirked at me. He knew why I liked that particular painting and it wasn't necessarily because of my friend's artistry.

Arlene worked in the café round the corner from mine and Lea's flat. We had discovered the place just under a year ago; the drinks were cheep, not completely rancid and we were poor. Arlene had brought our drinks over and I immediately fell in love with her – she was stunning with cropped golden blonde hair, curves in all the right places and a smile to die for. Lea noticed my infatuation (I will admit I wasn't exactly subtle, I couldn't take my eyes off her) and, on another visit, he asked her to join us. The three of us had talked for nearly an hour before her boss told her to get back to work. We had then met her after her shift to talk some more and we had been friends ever since. Arlene was my muse – I based the angel in my novel on her – she was the inspiration for my creativity and she has no bloody idea!

If I'm honest she has no idea because I haven't told her (and I've sworn Lea to secrecy on pain of death if he reveals anything). Again, if I'm honest I don't know if I want to tell her – if I tell her and she doesn't feel the same way then it will ruin out friendship and make things awkward between us (plus she may spit in my coffee if I piss her off). No, I prefer to take the approach of loving her from afar and writing angsty poetry about it like some love-struck fifteen year old getting shot down by his first crush. You know the mature, healthy was to deal with it.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, Lea continuing with his drawing while I stared at my cursor blinking ominously, almost tauntingly. I groaned in frustration when I could take the repetitive sight no longer and slammed my laptop closed. I folded my arms on the device, laid my head on them and groaned again this time in anguish. I heard the scratching of Lea's pencil cease and heard him walk over to the tiny kitchen area situated in the far corner of our living room. I heard him fill the kettle and then proceed to make two cups of tea. After a lot of clunking, and a few whispered curses as Lea burnt himself (it did always make me laugh; the man was an amazing artist but could not retain the ability to make a hot drink without burning some part of his anatomy), a clunk signified a cup had been place in front of me. I looked up to see Lea smiling sympathetically at me.

"It'll come, don't worry." he told me and gave my shoulder a squeeze.

"I know." I replied pinking up my cup. "It's just I've been in this writer's block slump for too long now and I can't seem to get myself out of it." I took a sip of tea letting the liquid warm my insides but burning my tongue and the roof of my mouth in the process.

"You just need to give it time." he told me, sitting back down on the sofa and nursing his own cup.

"I guess so." I mumbled. "I would have thought I'd given it enough time by now though."

"You know what you need," he said, suddenly clicking his fingers. "you need a night out!"

"I do not need a night out!" I replied. A night out was the last thing that I needed now. I needed a break, yes, but I did not need a night of drinking myself half to death then expelling the contents of my stomach into an alley before spending the entire next day recovering. I needed a break but I didn't need to waste a days worth of writing over it.

"Oh come on, Ria, it will be fun." Lea whined playfully.

"I do not need a night out!" I repeated.

"Fine, be boring." he joked, pretending to be serious. He stared at me, a pleading look on his face, and I knew that he wouldn't let the subject drop until I submitted. Lea could get exactly what he wanted by being relentless – it was one of the things I both admired and loathed about him. I sighed, if I relented now it would make the evening much more painless.

"I'll go out." I stated "I just don't want to go 'Out' out." It was a valid excuse; I was more than happy to leave the house tonight, I just didn't want to overdo it and I had learnt long ago Lea's definition of going out and going 'Out' out. One meant a few quite drinks and the possibility of an undercooked burger if we had enough munny and the other meant over doing it on the whisky and the possibility of hospitalisation. Lea brightened at this.

"Great! Let's get a takeaway and go for a few drinks!" he grinned. He downed the rest of his tea, jumped off the sofa and ran to his room to shower and change. I shook my head and chuckled slightly, Lea was so easy to please.

* * *

A few hours later Lea and I were in our local :- a small pub a few streets away from our flat. It was the ideal place for us; it was close enough for us to be able to stumble home easily if we had a bit too much, it was filled with people of all shapes and sizes so we didn't stick out too much (although with a shoulder-length pink ponytail I stick out anywhere and Lea seems to get his styling tips from Sonic the Hedgehog – we're not exactly the most inconspicuous pair) and it was exceptionally cheep. (When I say exceptionally cheep I mean it :- we could happily drink our way though six pints each and not spend that much munny.)

"To good scotch!" Lea toasted, raising his glass.

"To selling paintings!" I replied, clinking my glass against his. We both took sips from the amber liquid in our respective glasses. The drink burnt the back of my throat and I shuddered – it had been a while since I had last drank.

"Listen, dude," Lea began setting his drink back down on the bar. "I know you're bummed about your novel but it'll come to you, trust me."

"I know." I replied, trying not to let myself feel disheartened; tonight was about Lea selling a painting not me failing to complete a simple sentence – I was out now, dammit, I was going to try enjoy myself! "I just need a bit of inspiration."

"You just need a bit of Arlene." he grinned slyly. I shot him a glare, I knew he was only joking but that was uncouth and uncool. "Oh unclench, no one heard me." he stated and took another sip of his drink. "And even if they did, no one even knows her here so you've got nothing to worry about."

I opened my mouth to retort but the appearance of the barman cut me off. I could easily laugh and joke around with Lea and Arlene (Lea more so because I'd known him longer) but when I was faced with other people I suddenly became painfully shy. Maybe it had been too long since I had last left the flat; maybe I was turning into some kind of Edgar Allan Poe-esque recluse who no longer knew how to interact with the outside world. If that's the case, man I need a hobby.

"Need a refill, lads?" he asked gruffly, but not unkindly.

"Yeah," Lea replied "two of the same please mate." The barman nodded and began busying himself with our drinks.

I watched in fascination as he dexterously opened a half full bottle of scotch and filled our glasses in quick succession without stopping or spilling a drop. I would never be able to do that – I'm too clumsy and always end up breaking things, also I'm not exactly what you would call graceful by any stretch of the imagination. He pushed the glasses back towards us and placed the bottle underneath the bar. Lea was about to hand over the munny when the barman suddenly stopped, a thought occurring to him.

"You boys drink in here a fair bit, don't you?" he asked. I shrugged, we sometimes came here but we weren't what you would call regulars. We weren't in here every night or anything like that.

"A bit why?" I asked, confused. The barman opened his mouth as if to say something then closed it again.

"Forget it, it's not that important." he said shaking his head.

"No go on," Lea pressed "if it's important enough to ask..." The barman leaned on the bar and lowered his voice.

"You two know Braig by any chance?" he asked. I looked at Lea and shrugged, the name didn't sound familiar. "Comes in here a fair bit." Lea clicked his fingers in sudden comprehension.

"Slicked back black hair, red scarf, kind of soldiery looking?" he asked. "Often sits in the corner with a bottle of Port Royal rum?"

"That's the one." the bar man said, pretending to shoot Lea with his finger to signal that he was correct.

"What about him?" I asked. The barman looked around suspiciously, as if someone might be listening in although everyone around us was engrossed in their own conversations.

"He's gone missing." he stated. Lea and I looked at each other in confusion and then back to the barman.

"How do you know he's gone missing?" Lea asked. "He might have been drafted – he looks like he's in the army."

"See that's what I thought at first but some of his buddies came in here looking for him, said they hadn't seen him in a couple of weeks. They'd been to his place and it hadn't been lived in but all his things, clothes and such, were still there. He never mentioned going anywhere to them and, rightly, they're starting to worry."

"Have they notified anyone?" I asked. The barman shook his head gravely.

"Apparently he hasn't been gone long enough to be classed as a missing person." he stated. "I was just wondering if anyone had seen him around; big guy like Braig, seems like he can handle himself but if he's gone missing...well, it can give cause to worry."

"If we see him we'll let you know." Lea told him, the barman smiled warmly.

"Ah, you're a good pair of lads." he stated. "What are your names?"

"I'm Lea and this is my friend Lumaria." Lea said introducing us. "We live just round the corner."

"I'm Cid." the barman told us. "Moved here about six months ago with my daughter, Aerith." I looked at Lea who had raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued. I knew what he was thinking – pervert always had that look on his face when he thought there was a chance he could get laid. I raised an eyebrow back at him as if to silently ask 'really?' He could not be thinking about getting into this unsuspecting girl's knickers when we'd just found out that a local might have gone missing.

"How old is your daughter?" Lea asked – apparently he could – appearing nonchalant to Cid but I could see straight through him. He was thinking with his bollocks again.

"Probably a couple of years younger than you boys." Cid stated. Lea smirked and I shot him an exasperated look. "And a guy like Braig going missing does make me worry about her safety."

"Just out of interest," I asked, changing the subject and reminding Lea how this conversation had started in the first place. "where was the last place anyone saw Braig?"

"Well," Cid began, leaning on the bar towards us conspiratorially. "one of his buddies told me that he'd last been seen after a meeting with Ansem talking with Xehanort..."

"The Mayor's schitzoid aid?" Lea asked in surprise. Ansem was the Mayor of Radiant Gardens and Xehanort was his right hand man and there was something...off about him.

No one could put their finger on it but there was something peculiar and unsettling about Xehanort. Ansem was well respected throughout the entire town (I didn't know much about him but from what people had told me he was a good Mayor and they always spoke very highly of him) but everyone seemed to be either afraid or wary of Xehanort. At times he seemed perfectly normal and at others he seemed to develop schizophrenic tendencies; talking to himself, erratic mood swings and a seemingly split personality. He even appeared to be two different people at times! Most of the townspeople gave him a wide birth unless it was absolutely necessary. This was all rumours and speculation of course but if Braig was last seen with him then, maybe there was some reason that he had gone missing.

"I wouldn't say that too loudly if I were you." Cid cautioned. "But yeah, Braig was last seen talking to Xehanort at the gates of that old abandoned castle, those three creepy girls were with them." Even though he was an aid himself Xehanort had three aids; all female, all constantly silent and all very disturbing. Virtually nothing was known about them except that they worked for Xehanort (probably doing the jobs he didn't want to dirty his hands doing) and they scared the shit out of anyone they came across. "That was a couple of weeks ago, now," Cid continued "and he hasn't been seen since. A couple of the regulars were thinking of sending out a search party."

"Do you need our help?" Lea asked. Cid shook his and began to wipe down the bar.

"Nah, don't want you boys getting mixed up in all this too." he stated.

"Well if we do see him we'll let you know," I said. "and we'll keep an eye out for anything else strange." Cid smiled at us.

"Thank you, lads, we'd all appreciate it." he stated. "You're always welcome here and if you ever need anything all you have to do is ask."

"Thanks." Lea said and made to give Cid the munny for the drinks but he waved his hand dismissively.

"These are on me." he stated and went to answer the request of another punter. Lea shrugged and pocketed the note.

We finished our drinks in silence and then left the pub. After the conversation we had just been party too neither of us felt like continuing our evening or the prospect of having to walk home in the dark (as pathetic as that sounds). That was the first missing person from Radiant Gardens we heard about and as I fell onto my bed about half an hour later, the talk with Cid playing in my head over and over like a broken record, I had a horrible feeling that it wouldn't be the last.

**Suspense! Hope you guys liked it, there will definitely be more to follow S-E xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again :) I had originally intended to have weekly updates for this story but every other Saturday I end up pulling double shifts at both my jobs so it's now going to be every two weeks :D anyway I hope you enjoy the chapter and recognise where the first bit is from ;) poor Lumaria, that was about as far as I got too**

_I looked into his gothic red eyes(he was wearing color contacts) which revealed so much depressing sorrow and evilness and then suddenly I didn't feel mad anymore._

_ And then...suddenly just as I Draco kissed me passionately. Draco climbed on top of me and we started to make out keenly against a tree. He took of my top and I took of his clothes. I even took of my bra. Then he put his thingie in my you-know-what and we did it for the first time._

_ "Oh! Oh! Oh!" I screamed. I was beginning to get an orgasm. We started to kiss everywhere and my pale body became all warm. And then..._

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Holy crap! I cannot keep reading this shit! I mean at first it was so bad it was funny but I'm done! There is no way this is going to get better – I hope the person who wrote this wasn't serious when they wrote it but then again you never can tell with the internet. I closed down the window and rubbed my eyes – this was getting ridiculous. I could not keep doing this to myself, trying to affirm my own abilities by intentionally searching for bad writing is not good for my mental stability.

Maybe I need to get out of the flat. Get some fresh air and some sunshine, maybe a conversation with someone outside of the internet (aside from Lea or Arlene) and I'll feel better – it might even help me to stop obsessing and just write. I closed my laptop, grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and scribbled Lea a note.

Lea was meeting with some architectural firm about designing a monument for the centre of town and he had said he'd be back in the early afternoon, I didn't know how long I'd be out and I didn't want him to worry – I think he'd gotten used to coming home and seeing me wandering round the flat with no purpose. To be honest I'd gotten used to doing it but at some point you have to kick yourself up the arse, get out and find some purpose or you end up deranged and, judging by the things I had been choosing to read, I was already beginning the slow decent into madness. I grabbed my jacket and left the flat – the outside world had been calling for a while and it was about time I answered.

The sunshine was glorious and the light breeze rolling in from the coast was enough to keep it from being sweltering. As I walked away from the flat I wondered why on earth it had taken me this long to do this; maybe the fact that I had locked myself away from the world in a valiant attempt to try and finish my novel was actually what was preventing me from doing so. A small part of my brain was telling me that this was just another form of procrastination, that I should be inside writing, but that was swiftly shut up by my entire body screaming that I needed this. I need to have a proper break that didn't involve consuming alcohol.

Walking was making my usually tense muscles relax, the breeze was blowing away the fog in my mind and the sun was like a medicine that I had been reluctant to take but found that it actually didn't taste as bad as I had thought it would. I walked past all of mine and Lea's usual haunts – the café, the pub, the castle – I wanted to find somewhere new. A change of routine, a change of scenery and actually looking at the world around me was instantly helping; I could already feel my brain beginning to start working again.

I was playing a conversation between two of my characters in my head, imagining myself as the protagonist (because I'm cool like that) when the most tantalising thing I had ever smelt caught my attention. I turned towards it and found myself standing in front of a house with a stunningly beautiful garden out the front filled with all different kinds of flowers. I took a step towards the house, all my attention focused on the garden trying to work out which of the multitude of scents had caught my attention first.

I leaned over the small fence and carefully wrapped my fingers around the stem of a tall plant with a number of purple bell-like flowers running down it. Gently, so as not to break it, I pulled it towards me and inhaled the scent of the flower, it wasn't what had first drawn me to the garden but it was still beautiful. I let go of the stem and the flower fell softly back into its place in the garden, swaying slightly once it did. I reached for the stem of a different flower, this one pure white rose, totally enraptured by the sights and smells of the garden.

"Beautiful isn't it." a voice from behind me said, breaking the spell of the garden and harshly bringing me back to reality. I was so shocked to discover that I was no longer alone I spun to face the owner of the voice a little too over-zealously. I found myself stumbling and falling on my backside at the feet of a very pretty, slim girl with auburn ringlets and kind eyes. I stared up at her dumbly for a few minutes before I finally found my voice.

"Um...I was just...sort of...looking...at...the flowers." I stammered as the English Language failed me once again, I wasn't really sure what to say to make this situation any better for myself. It wasn't the greatest position in the world for me to find myself in; leaning over someone's garden fence, sensually smelling their flowers like some kind of perverted hippy. The girl, who looked about the same age as me – maybe a couple of years younger, laughed a soft musical laugh and extended one of her hands to me, the other clutching a large stack of papers. I took her hand and allowed her to pull me to my feet.

"It's fine." she said as I began to brush myself off slightly. "It's supposed to catch people's attention, that's why I planted them." I blanched.

"You did this?" I asked, a little surprised. This looked like the work of some agricultural genius, not just your Average-Joe gardener.

"Yeah." the girl smiled proudly.

"It's amazing." I breathed turning to stare at the garden once again. The girl laughed again at my mesmerized state.

"Thank you, I'm glad someone appreciates it." she said. "It's not everyone who can just take the time to notice something beautiful in the world." I turned and smiled at her, she smiled back and extended her hand.

"I'm Aerith." she told me. I raised my eyebrows slightly as I recognised the name; so this was Cid's daughter. Lea would be very jealous that I had gotten to meet her – the girl was stunning; curves in the right places, soft elfin features and just his type (aka breathing).

"Hi." I said taking her hand and shaking it. "I'm Lumaria. You're Cid's daughter right?" Aerith nodded, brushing one of her ringlets behind her ear.

"That's right, how do you know my dad?" she asked.

"Oh, me and my friend met him at the pub last night." I stated shuffling a little nervously. I wasn't used to talking to people on my own, I always had Lea with me so if the conversation died he was able to resurrect it. Clutching at straws, and not wanting to stop the first conversation I'd had with alone someone outside of my small circle of two friends in weeks, I nodded towards the large stack of papers she was holding. "What are those?" I asked.

"Oh these?" she asked and handed me one. It was poster with a picture of a man in a smart blue uniform with large sideburns and thick black dread-locks tied back from his face. Above the picture was the word 'MISSING' in large letters and underneath was the contact information for anyone who found the man or knew anything about his whereabouts. "I told my dad I'd put a few of these up around the neighbourhood."

"I didn't think Braig had dread-locks." I stated a little confused – this didn't look like what I though Braig looked like, unless I had confused him with someone else.

"That's not Braig." Aerith replied. "That's Dilan; he went missing about a week ago. Occasionally he gets called to other towns for work – he's kind of like a hired bodyguard, but not exactly that – but he's never been gone this long before and his wife hasn't heard anything from him at all and she's starting to worry."

"Has she been to the police?" I asked. Aerith shook her head sadly.

"They won't do anything." she stated. "If they won't look for Braig then they certainly won't go looking for Dilan. Apparently, according to Dilan's wife, they say someone has to be gone for at least a month with no word from them before they will class them as a missing person."

"Really?" I asked. "A whole month?" That seemed a rather long time for someone to be gone, in my opinion, but maybe the police force in Radiant Gardens was a lot more lenient than in other towns. By the sound of it even one missing person was out of the ordinary never mind two in quick succession.

"Yeah, it's stupid," she replied, a hint of anger in her voice. "if something did happen to them they wouldn't even be recognisable by the time the police started looking for them." Aerith's eyes darkened with anger and she turned her face away, looking as if she was about to cry. I've never been good with emotional displays but as I looked at Aerith I wanted more than anything to keep those tears from running down her face.

"Would you like some help putting these up?" I asked, signalling to the poster I was still holding, changing the subject. Aerith looked back at me and she smiled, her face brightening somewhat.

"Thank you Lumaria, that would be fantastic." she said. She cut the pile that she was holding in half and gave one of the halves to me. I took them and we made our way down the street in the direction that I had originally come, leaving the suburbs and making our way back into the centre of town.

"So where was the last place Dilan was seen?" I asked as Aerith stopped to tack one of her posters to a lamppost.

"Apparently, according to his wife, the last time she spoke to him he was going to a meeting with Xehanort, presumably about his next job." she replied as we continued walking down the street.

"Xehanort?" I asked stopping, there was that name again. I had never met the man but, for some reason, every time I heard his name I felt this strange chill go up my spine. That might have just been because he was known to be a bit...ok, a lot on the strange side of maybe it was because of his connection to both of the men who had gone missing but there was something that made me apprehensive of ever actually meeting him. Aerith turned to look at me when she noticed that I was no longer by her side.

"Are you ok?" she asked. I shook my head, returning to my normal self, and jogged to catch up with her.

"Yeah I'm fine." I told her as we started walking again. "It's just...he's the guy Braig was last seen with." She nodded.

"I don't think that's escaped anyone else's notice either." she stated. "Have you ever met Xehanort?" she asked as I tacked up another poster.

"No." I shook my head. "To be honest I hadn't really heard all that much about him until me and my friend Lea spoke to Cid at the pub last night. All I'd really heard about him beforehand was..."

"Rumours and speculation?" she asked finishing my sentence.

"Pretty much, yeah." I replied.

"And those three girls that he's always with." she added.

"Do you know anything about them?" I asked and she shook her head.

"No, I bumped into one of them once – the tall one with the ponytail. I tried apologising to her but she just glared at me and stalked off. The look she gave me, I honestly thought she was going to hit me." Aerith shuddered remembering it as she put up another poster.

"To be honest, from what I've heard about the three of them, I'm surprised she didn't." I stated.

"I've tried to avoid them all as much as possible since." she stated. "I don't understand why Ansem allows Xehanort to keep them around – everyone's terrified of them and I think some of the things they do to get their jobs done are illegal."

"Missing people, creepy aids and illegal activities...makes me wonder why I moved here in the first place." I joked. Aerith laughed slightly.

"Have I been putting you off?" she asked. "Radiant Gardens is a good place to live and everyone loves Ansem, despite the company he lets his aid keep, and this is the first time anyone's ever gone missing or anything out of the ordinary has happened here."

"I was joking." I smiled as I tacked my final poster to the lamppost next to the café. We had reached the centre of town now and had left a wave of posters tacked to various signs, posts and buildings in our wake. Aerith laughed as she went and tacked her final poster to another lamppost down the street.

"Good, you shouldn't listen to me." she said making her way back to me. "Dad's been saying that if any more people go missing then he's going to move us somewhere safer so I guess it's just his prejudice coming through."

"I can understand that, he just wants you to be safe." I replied.

"I suppose so," she murmured. "it's just...I rather like it here, despite the disappearances, I don't want to have to move."

"Not after you did so much work on that beautiful garden." I chuckled trying my best not to sound a gay as that statement made me feel. There was nothing wrong with a heterosexual man having a love of flowers but I knew what Lea would be saying if he had heard me say that. Aerith didn't seem to notice and question my sexuality but just smiled up at me.

"Exactly." she said. A silence between us hung in the air for a minute, all the while I tried to scrabble for something else to say, before a voice behind us broke it for us.

"...I live around the corner, it's not exactly a long trek, and besides it's not even dark." I heard Arlene shout to someone inside the café. I looked over Aerith's shoulder to see her leaving, pulling her jacket on over her uniform as she did. She glanced in my direction, only taking in the shock of pink that was my recognisable hair, and shouted back into the café. "Besides Lumaria's out here – I'll just walk with him...oh!" She stopped and exclaimed when she saw that I wasn't alone or with Lea, like I usually was.

Arlene took a proper look at me and only then did she see Aerith standing with me. I blushed furiously and shuffled awkwardly; this was the first time that Arlene had seem me with someone who wasn't Lea and the fact that it was another woman just made me all the more embarrassed (even though Arlene had no idea how I felt about her and probably didn't feel that was about me anyway). Aerith looked at Arlene and stiffened, evidently she found the situation just as awkward, then sent me a hasty smile.

"I better go or my dad will worry, thanks for helping me put up the posters Lumaria." she said.

"Well if you ever need more put up just give me a shout." I replied.

"Thanks," she smiled. "I'll see you later." And with that she was off like a shot before I could say anything else. I turned back to look at Arlene who raised an eyebrow at me and smirked slightly.

"Who was that?" she asked as she walked towards me and linked her arm with mine. I stiffened ever-so slightly but not enough for her to notice that her close proximity was making my heart hammer against my chest. As attractive as Aerith was she would never replace Arlene in my affections – my heart belonged to her and her alone.

"That was Aerith; Cid the barman's daughter." I said trying to sound as blasé as I possibly could, like I didn't care in the slightest that Arlene had seen me with another girl. "I spent the afternoon with her."

"Ooooooh." Arlene crowed childishly. "What have you too been up to?" I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

"Nothing like that." I laughed slightly. "I've been helping her put up some 'missing person' posters."

"Is that all?" Arlene asked, she seemed a little put out that I didn't have anything more interesting to tell her about what I had been doing all afternoon with a pretty girl.

"Sorry to disappoint you." I chuckled. We continued in silence for a moment before Arlene spoke.

"So who's gone missing?" she asked.

"That bloke Dilan, with the sideburns and dread-locks." I replied.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "But he's always going out of town for work, and things like that, I'm sure he's fine."

"Maybe." I replied quietly. "You will be careful walking around by yourself though, won't you?"

"You sound just like John," she said. "he's telling all the girls to watch out on their way home, I think it's just because he wants to walk one of us home in the dark and try it on, the pervert."

"Arlene." I said sternly. She looked at me with her large green eyes, she knew from my tone that I was serious even though she was trying to make a joke.

"Ok I'll be careful," she replied. "but Braig and Dilan will come back and this will all blow over soon, I promise you." She gave my arm a reassuring squeeze but it didn't help to dispel the discomfort I felt in my stomach.

"You're probably right." I replied smiling, pretending to return to my normal self again. I didn't see the point in arguing with her if she wasn't worried about it but I was sure she wasn't 'probably right'. In fact I was one hundred percent sure that, in this case, she was probably wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

**So here is chapter 3, I really enjoyed writing this, espeically introducing the three aids properly and Even being a creepy bastard (and incidentally it was round about this point that I decided chapters would be better than a really long oneshot haha) I could say much more in this chapter but I'm super tired and I'm just going to let you read haha hope you enjoy :D**

_ "Would it help?" I asked. "Would it make this life any easier if I did?"_

_ "I can't answer that," my angel replied, a saddened expression on her face. "you know I can't." I turned away from her, not wanting her to see the tears welling up in my eyes. I hated it when she saw me like this – it was stupid to do so though, that was why she was assigned to me in the first place. I felt a ghost like touch against my hand and I turned to see her standing close behind me._

_ "Why don't you give up on me?" I asked, but not harshly. I was almost curious; I probably wasn't the easiest of people to be around most of the time and I certainly didn't make her job easy for her. I didn't do it out of spite, I could never do anything to her out of spite. I wanted to help her – I wanted to let her help me – but there was something holding me back. There was something stopping me from letting her in. She brushed my fringe out of my face and gazed into my eyes._

_ "Because I love ###########################################################_

_._

_._

_._

I opened my eyes, groaning slightly as the bright sunlight streaming in the window burnt my retinas. I blinked a few times till I became used to the light and sat up, trying to work out why I was in the living room and wasn't in bed. I was sitting at my desk with my laptop on in front of me, my half finished chapter on the screen and several lines of hashes completing the heartfelt declaration of love I had been about to finish: I had fallen asleep on my keyboard again. My entire body tensed as I realised this, all my muscles contracting in protest for not having had a soft bed to lie in all night.

I stretched out my aching muscles and I heard several of my bones crack unpleasantly in the process. I need to stop doing this to myself; sleeping in a chair is uncomfortable and sleeping with your head that close to a whirring machine can't been good for you. Considering that they say sleeping with your head next to a mobile phones that's on can give you cancer sleeping on a computer that's switch on all night definitely isn't good for you. Sleeping with my head on my laptop was never a good idea and there was a dull ache in my temple and the base of my spine to remind me of this.

I stood up and went over to the small kitchen at the back of the flat, my legs almost giving way from being stuck in a seated position all night. I began to make myself a very strong coffee; once I had some caffeine in my system I would feel better (well I certainly couldn't feel any worse right now). I would drink my coffee, go and have a shower and make myself vaguely resemble human again and then get back to writing...although maybe take out all the hashes first.

Once my coffee was ready I held the steaming mug close to my face, letting it warm me up and inhaling the heavenly aroma. No matter what the smell of coffee was always able to cure all my ailments; freshly made coffee was my favourite smell in the world. The only thing I've ever liked the smell of better was Aerith's garden – the smell of that garden was heavenly. I realise that that statement makes me sound rather gay (Lea is constantly telling me that I say things that sound gay :- it's not gay, I'm just very well spoken!) and there is a lot about me that is quite girlie but I will always maintain that pink hair and a love of flowers does not necessarily a girl make.

Talking to Aerith yesterday afternoon had been nice; she was sweet and it was good for my pathological shyness in the long run to talk to someone who wasn't Lea every so often. Aerith saw the world in a different light to anyone I'd ever met – she saw beauty in things that others didn't and she cared. She cared enough to take the time to plant and nurture that amazing garden herself when most people would just hire someone to do that for them. She cared enough to make friends with a complete stranger who had fallen flat on his arse, making a complete tit out of himself only seconds after meeting her and she cared enough to put up all those missing person's posters of Dilan and Braig around the neighbourhood.

I wondered if anyone had heard anything from either of them over the night. It didn't seem overly likely, considering that nothing had been heard from them for coming up to a month but maybe they had suddenly realised how long it had been and realised that they needed to get in touch with their families. Ok it was a very naïve hope that they might have done but, by the sound of it, that's all everyone was doing at the moment. Hoping that they would come home or call, write, whatever to say where they were and why it had been so long since anyone had heard from them, hoping that there was a much less sinister explanation than what we had been guessing.

As all these thoughts were swirling around in my head I had been staring out of window without actually seeing anything when a sudden movement outside caught my eye. I took a step closer to the glass and saw three girls I swear I knew from somewhere standing in the opening of an alleyway a few feet away from our flat. There was something different about these girls than most of the others living in Radiant Gardens and not just the way they seemed to be skulking round the back alleys of one of the more deserted parts of town. There was something slightly deranged about them – something that suggested that they wouldn't be totally uncomfortable with the idea of ambushing and attacking the next unsuspecting person to walk past.

Trying not to draw too much attention to myself (although the girls were probably too engrossed in their conversation to even notice that I was watching them) I took another step closer to the window to get a better look at them. All three of them looked roughly the same age as me and Lea, two were roughly the same height while one was a lot taller. Both of the shorter girls had long wavy hair and it made then look very similar aside from the colour; one had purple curls while the other's was a dark green, while the taller had long black hair, tied back in a tight ponytail, that flashed blue in the sunlight.

The one with green hair had a substantial number of piercings littering her ears and face, making her look even more daunting – I would cross the street if it meant that I didn't have to cross paths with her. The one with the purple hair didn't seem quite as psychotic as the other two but that may have been because her eyes were hidden behind large sunglasses but that made her that little bit more terrifying – she could have been staring at me this whole time and I would never have known. It was the taller of the three that chilled me to my core the most, she was too calm but it wasn't a comforting calm it was the kind of calm before a hurricane or an earthquake. Out of the three of them it was clear that she was in charge – they all held the same rank in whatever it was that they did but they other two answered to her.

As I watched the tallest of the three turned her head to look down the alleyway they were standing in front of and I saw a thick black X tattooed on her neck and it suddenly clicked in my mind why I recognised them. These three girls were Xehanort's aids! I'd never seen them before so I hadn't recognised them at first but Arlene had once told me that one of them had had Xehanort's initial tattooed on her neck to show her allegiance. A chill ran over my body and I was about to leave the window before one of them saw me watching them when the tallest turned and looked directly at me.

I couldn't move, I couldn't look away, all I could do was stand there and stare back into her unhinged blue eyes. As she stared at me the corner of her lips tilted up slightly into a half smile that was full of malice. She looked totally at ease, unfazed by the fact that she had caught someone watching her and her friends while there were doing something that was probably illegal or at least dodgy enough that they had to come to the outskirts of town to meet. Still looking directly at me she smirked and mouthed the words 'three down'.

A loud bang and a muttered curse sounded from behind me and I practically jumped out of my skin, nearly spilling my coffee in the process. I whipped around to see Lea standing behind me, still in his pyjamas, holding the side of his head and a basket full of dirty clothes. Lea had a habit of walking into things or hitting his head when he was still half asleep; he'd obviously just woken up, went to get his clothes to put on a wash and hit his head on one of his shelves as he stood up. He grinned at me sheepishly.

"Morning."

"Morning." I replied. "You ok?"

"Yeah, just banged my head slightly." he stated going over to the washing machine and beginning to sort through his clothes.

"You need to be more careful." I chided. "The amount of times you've hit your head I wouldn't be surprised if you have brain damage."

"I'm not brain damaged!" he shot back closing the washing machine door. I just shook my head and rolled my eyes; Lea was a great artist but he was so clumsy it was truly unbelievable how he managed to function sometimes. Once he had finished with the washing machine he came to stand over by the window with me. "Rough night?" he asked draping an arm around my shoulders.

"Not too bad," I replied. "although I could have done without sleeping in a chair." Lea gave my shoulders a squeeze and touched his forehead to time.

"Ria you shouldn't keep falling asleep on your laptop, it's not good for you." he stated. He didn't have to ask if I'd fallen asleep at my laptop again, he just knew.

"I'm fine, I've just got a little bit of a headache." I told him.

"And you say I'm brain damaged." he chuckled softly.

"You are brain damaged." I replied, laughing too, and shook my head then turned back to look out the window. As I looked out at the street I suddenly remembered those girls and my eyes darted to the alleyway they had been standing in front of. They were nowhere to be seen! I stiffened slightly remembering the tall one looking up at me and smirking as she mouthed 'three down' (whatever that meant). The look in her eyes when she saw me had been something else :- she had looked like a criminal who was pleading guilty to the charges against them and professing that they had fun while doing it. That look would haunt me forever.

"Hey," Lea began swiftly bringing me back to reality. "what are you looking at?" I turned to give him what I hoped resembled a smile.

"Nothing." I replied. "I thought I saw a cat." It was a feeble excuse, yes, but Lea might just buy it. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Whatever freak!" he stated and let go of me. He turned and headed in the direction of his bedroom to go and get dressed when he turned back to me. "Hey I have to go and seen Dr Even in a bit 'cause that lump on my wrist is back, can you come with me?"

"Why do you need me to come with you?" I asked in mild exasperation. This happened every single time Lea had to go to the doctors; he wasn't particularly good with needles and wanted me to go for 'moral support' (moral support in this case reading hold his hand when the needle goes in while he practically crushes my bones in the process). I suppose it didn't really help that Radiant Gardens only had one doctor – Dr Even – and he creeped everyone out. If he spent less time experimenting on things and more time on his bedside-manner then he might seem a little less weird but, there you go, that's just my opinion I'm not a doctor.

"Because last time he said that if it came back again he'd have to suck it out with a needle and..." he tailed off. I rolled my eyes and drained the rest of my coffee.

"Alright, you big pussy, I'll come hold your hand." I stated. Lea ran over to me and threw his arms around my waist.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." he gushed. "I love you Ria."

"Yeah, yeah." I mumbled, embarrassed, as I tried to prise him off so that I could go shower and put some new clothes on.

* * *

About an hour later Lea and I stood outside Dr Even's office trying to work up the balls to go inside. Despite the fact that Even was the only doctor in Radiant Gardens he never had a huge queue of patients wanting to see him. In fact most people in town were so desperate not to see him they only went to see him in an absolute emergency or if it was for something detrimentally effecting their work – like the lump on Lea's wrist.

"Do you want to knock?" Lea asked trying not to sound like he was terrified, nudging me forward slightly.

"Hell no." I replied equally as pathetically scared. "It's your appointment, you knock."

"But I knocked last time." Lea whined back at me.

"Yeah cause that was your appointment too." I shot back. "When I make an appointment I'll knock on the door."

"Fine!" Lea sighed. "Why don't you ever get sick?" he muttered darkly knocking on the large wooden door.

"Because I have a decent immune system." I shot back and Lea snorted. We waited for someone to answer the door or even to hear the sounds of movement from inside but the building was silent. Lea and I looked at each other before I knocked on the door, this time slightly louder. Still no answer came. This was starting to feel wrong; even if Lea had knocked really quietly to get out of seeing the doctor someone inside would have, at least, heard me knocking.

"Shall we go in?" I asked, unsure if I even wanted to.

"Probably should." Lea replied his voice shaking slightly. "I mean, it's quite early so he might still be asleep but..." he tailed off.

"Yeah..." I replied silently wondering if we had both jumped to a similar conclusion. Two men had gone missing in the last couple of weeks could it be possible that another one had?

Lea grabbed the handle and pushed it down. The door was unlocked, which wasn't helping our suspicions about what might have happened, but it didn't look as if it had been forced open so that was something. Lea pushed the door open and we both stared into the dark office. After our eyes had adjusted to the darkness we both stepped inside, Lea walking towards the room Even usually saw his patients in at the back of the building.

"Hello?" he called out. I looked down and saw about nine or ten letters lying just behind the door. I picked them up and flipped through them, some where dated as late as last week!

"Lea look at these." I said following him further into the building.

"What?" he stopped and turned to look at me. I handed him one of the envelopes and made him look at the date on the back.

"There's mail here that was sent a week ago that hasn't been opened." I stated. Lea chewed his bottom lip and swallowed.

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything." he stated trying to be rational. "He could have just gone away for a week without telling anyone because he's a creepy loner/recluse."

"Hopefully." I said and we continued towards the back of the office. The further in we went the darker it got and as I looked up at the shelves on the wall they were lined with jars filled with pickling vinegar and things inside them that looked suspiciously like human organs. I stopped to stare and Lea, realising that I was no longer right behind him, came to see what I was looking at. "Why does he keep all this stuff?" I muttered.

"The man's creepy as fuck." Lea replied, tugging my elbow and pulling me away from the jars. "Let's just see if he's ok and then get out of here, alright?" he asked, I nodded. I didn't particularly want to spend any more time in here than necessary; it had gotten a lot darker and more disturbing since the last time I was here.

We reached the back of the office and the room that Even usually saw his patients in. Once again the door was closed so we both tried knocking and received no answer. Lea tried the door and, once again it was unlocked, he pushed it open and nothing could have prepared either of us for what was inside. Inside the room was a tip; papers lay scattered everywhere, a coat with what looked suspiciously like blood was torn and dumped in a corner of the room and a number of the jars of organs, that also lines the walls of this room, were lying, shattered on the ground, their contents spilling out on to the floor, left to decay.

"Fuck!" Lea exclaimed and lifted his hand to cover his nose and mouth as the smell of rotting flesh hit us. I retched as I saw what used to be a heart lying just a few inches away from where Lea was standing, half decomposed with insects burrowing deep inside it.

"I'm calling the police." I finally managed to choke out, staggering over to the desk. I picked up the phone and was about to dial when I cried out and almost dropped the phone in surprise – the desk was covered in broken glass, blood and what looked like a number or strands of wavy green and purple hair. I took a deep steadying breath, but the smell in the room only heightened my need to be sick so I swallowed and dialled as quickly as I could.

* * *

Lea and I sat on the ground outside Even's office, tacking deep breaths of fresh air trying to clear our heads, as the police searched the house and put tape over the doors and windows. As soon as I had called them we had darted out of the house, both to be violently sick, and waited for them to arrive. They were there pretty quickly (considering the description I had given them of the scene we found they should have been) and we left them to do their work and waited for one of them to come over and question us. Neither of us had spoken much since our manly displays of digestive pyrotechnics so when a tall, dark haired policeman came over to us I didn't really know what I was going to say. I mean how do you convey 'holy mother fucking shit I've just stepped into a room full of decomposing organs' into a legitimate statement?

The policeman took our names and our address and we told him what had happened as best we could. He asked what we were doing there and how we had found the place when we arrived. It felt a little bit like we were on trial but, then again, I'd never been questioned by the police over anything before and I guess they were trying to rule out that we might be suspects. Eventually he seemed satisfied that we weren't and, flipping his notebook closed, thanked us for all our help.

"So what happens now?" I asked as he put his notebook back in his pocket.

"Well we'll conduct a search, potentially for a body but hopefully for the doctor himself, we'll also question people we think may have been close to him and hopefully discover if there was any motive for wanting him gone." he stated.

"What will it take for you to be able rule out murder?" Lea asked.

"Until a body or a suspect is found it is a case of a missing person rather than murder." the policeman explained.

"Missing person?" Lea asked. "Like Braig and Dilan?"

"In some respect," the policeman replied. "because of the nature of their jobs – leaving to work in other cities etc. - both Dilan and Braig have to have been gone longer than they have for them to be officially classed as a missing person whereas Dr Even works in the town so, with his disappearance, he is automatically classed as one."

"But there are now three people missing in Radiant Gardens, right?" Lea asked. The policeman nodded.

"We would appreciate it if you wouldn't spread it around too much though as we don't wish to cause a panic until it is absolutely necessary." he stated and we both nodded. "Thank you for your co-operation boys, I'm sorry you had to get involved in all of this." He turned and went back into the building leaving me and Lea alone. We looked at each other, still not quite sure what to say, then without a word Lea linked his arm with mine and we slowly began to make our way back to the safety of the flat.

As we walked back, both still in a state of shocked silence, I began to think about everything I had seen this morning. First those girls outside the flat and then Even's place looking like it had been ransacked and some kind of struggle had taken place. I couldn't shake off the feeling that those girls had had something to do with it and the purple and green hair I had found on Even's desk as good as proved it, in my eyes anyway. Now there were three people missing from town and as soon as that thought crossed my mind I suddenly remembered the tallest of the three girls looking up at me and my blood ran cold. 'Three down'...how many more to go?


	4. Chapter 4

**More and more people are going missing now, we're starting to form an organisation haha in all serious though writing the end of this chapter made me really sad :( hope you enjoy it :)**

"Another one's gone missing." Lea stated throwing his tote bag down as he closed the front door and kicked his shoes off.

"What?" I asked looking up from my laptop, the half finished chapter of my novel still on the screen.

"Another person from town has gone missing." Lea said again going into the kitchen and putting the kettle on.

"When?" I asked getting up and going over to kitchen.

"A few days ago by the sound of it." Lea said leaning against the kitchen counter next to the sink. "Leon, the delivery guy at work, told me."

"Who was it this time?" I opened a cupboard and took out our nearly empty jar of coffee (time to go shopping again...great, more munny going out while none is coming in) while Lea pulled two mugs off the draining board next to the sink.

"Aeleus." he replied. I thought for a minute trying to work out who he was; it was one of those incidences where you know you know who the person in but you can't seem to put a face to the name.

"Who's he again?" I asked spooning coffee into the cups as Lea opened the fridge and retrieved the milk.

"The really tall guy with auburn hair that sort of spikes up." Lea described pouring water into the cups. I thought for a moment tapping the spoon absent-mindedly against my lips.

"The guy who looks like he could kill you with one punch?" I asked after a while.

"Yeah," Lea replied. "he also kind of looks like he's been smashed in the face repeatedly with a shovel." I clicked my fingers.

"I know who you mean now, he's another one who looks like he should be in the army." I mused taking my coffee and leaning against the kitchen counter.

"I think he was at one point." Lea stated taking his own coffee and blowing on it.

"And he's gone missing?" I asked for clarification more than anything else.

"Yeah."

"I don't get it!" I exclaimed shaking my head. "Most of the people who have gone missing – Braig, Dilan, Aeleus – they all look like they can handle themselves. I pretty sure even Even could defend himself if someone attacked him."

"What's your point?" Lea asked taking a sip of coffee.

"I don't know." I sighed. "It just seems so strange that guys like that are going missing when they could easily throw off anyone who tried to take them."

"Yeah," Lea mused. "unless they're not actually being taken."

"What do you mean?" I asked. Was Lea suggesting what I think he was? That these guys had just up and left without saying anything to anyone?

"Maybe their not being taken," he stated shrugging ever so slightly. "maybe they're going willingly." That could be true; it could be that these men had just had enough of Radiant Gardens and had gone. If that was the case then this was all much less worrying than it seemed but that theory didn't fit either. Dilan had a wife and I'm pretty sure Aeleus had a wife and kids as well, it didn't make any sense for them to just leave their families with no explanation whatsoever. Then there was the scene that me and Lea had walked in on a week ago.

"No," I mumbled. "you saw what had happened in Even's office; there's no way they're going willingly."

"I suppose not." Lea mumbled back. We hadn't spoken of what we had seen since it had happened but both of us knew that the other was thinking about it constantly. Lea tried to remain his usual cheery self but the dark circles underneath his eyes said that he wasn't getting nearly enough sleep (and Lea only didn't sleep when he was stressed out or worried about something) whereas I was less able to hide the effect it was having on me.

I had hardly been able to finish a meal since we had walked into Even's office and found it ransacked, blood and rotting organs everywhere, and meat was totally out of the question. It was stupid but I just couldn't face food; every time I saw a juicy piece of steak, or something like that, I was immediately reminded of that decomposing heart with insects burrowing inside it and my stomach lurched. My work had been affected as well; it's really hard to write a scene between two star-crossed lovers when all you can see when you close your eyes is a torn and bloodied lab coat and having a good idea what had happened to the person who owned it.

Also I couldn't get the image of those three girls out of my head, especially the tallest one with blueish black hair. The look of almost satisfied glee on her face as she had looked up at me and mouthed 'three down'. It was almost as if she was happy that I had seen her; like she had wanted to be caught in the act. I was sure that those three had something to do with Even's disappearance – they must have done, I had found strands of their hair on his desk for crying out loud! I should have told the police about that, I honestly did try to but the thought of what those girls would do to me stopped me. They had seen me watching them; they would have known that I said something if the police came looking for them and then they would have come looking for me.

The loud ringing of the doorbell made both Lea and myself jump out of our skin. We had fallen into a pensive silence as each of us thought about what we couldn't bring ourselves to discuss and the sudden sound had harshly brought us back to reality. Breathing heavily and heart racing about a mile a minute I put down my cup and went over to the door leaving Lea clutching his chest and cursing to himself. When I opened the door Arlene was on the other side her hands behind her back.

"Hey stranger," she said smiling at me brightly. "I thought you guys might like some cheesecake." From behind her back she produced a large pink box, which I took and smiled back at her.

"Free cheesecake?" I asked in mock surprise and then narrowed my eyes at her comically. "There must be a catch."

"No catch," she replied innocently. "just a free cheesecake for you because you're my two best friends Lea and Lumaria, you know, not because Jasmine sneezed on it or anything." Her innocent smile mutated into a half smirk and I shook my head grinning at her.

"Really?" I asked incredulously and motioned for her to come in.

"Well she sneezed near it, not actually on it but John said we couldn't serve it to customers so it was up for grabs." she explained taking off her coat as I closed the door behind her.

"Hey Lea," I called into the kitchen and he stuck his head out into the hall. "free, potentially sneezed on, cheesecake?" He seemed to contemplate this for a second before nodding and disappearing back into the kitchen.

"I'll get the squirty-cream." he stated and Arlene and I laughed. Lea and I never turned down free food, even if it had potentially been sneezed on be one of Arlene's co-workers. Arlene and I went to join Lea in the kitchen. I made Arlene a cup of coffee while she divided the cheesecake between the three of us and Lea practically drenched each piece in cream.

"Wow you really love that stuff!" Arlene laughed as Lea handed her a bowl that looked as if it was more cream that cheesecake.

"I do." Lea replied grinning like a child as he handed me another bowl. "I could actually eat a whole bowl of this and nothing else."

"I've seen him do it," I told Arlene as the three of us went and sat in the larger living room area of the flat; Lea and Arlene on the sofa and me on my desk chair which I turned so that I was facing my friends. "it was disgusting!"

"It was amazing!" Lea corrected. I just rolled my eyes and took a bite of the cheesecake which, despite being drenched in UHT cream and sneezed on, tasted amazing (but that's the thing about cheesecake; even when it's bad it's still pretty good). "Did you walk here straight from work?" Lea asked Arlene turning to her.

"Yeah," she replied. "I finished early today. John offered to walk me home but I said I'd be fine, the last thing I need is that pervert knowing where I live."

"You walked here by yourself?" I asked suddenly concerned. Arlene shouldn't be walking around this part of town (or any part of town for that matter) by herself if people twice the size of her were going missing.

"Yeah." she replied. "It's no big deal."

"It is a big deal!" Lea snapped suddenly serious. "People are going missing Arlene!"

"Lea it's three-thirty in the afternoon!" Arlene exclaimed gesturing outside. "There's loads of people around, I wouldn't have been in any danger."

"That's not the point Arlene." he shot back. "Do you honestly think that Braig, Dilan or Aeleus thought they were in any danger before they went missing?"

"Braig, Dilan and Aeleus were sent on a job and just haven't been in touch." Arlene retorted. "They all look as if they're in some kind of armed forces so they were probably drafted somewhere."

"What about Even?" Lea asked. "He's not in the armed forces and his place was covered in blood when the police found it." Neither of us had told Arlene that we had been the ones to find out that Even had gone missing; if we couldn't talk to each other about it we certainly couldn't talk to anyone else!

"Even was a creepy reclusive sociopath who probably trashed his own office before leaving town." Arlene stated. It sounded rational enough – there was something not quite right about Even anyway – but I still didn't like the idea of her walking around by herself, not when Xehanort's aids were running around the city terrorising people. Lea opened his mouth to retort but Arlene's phone began to ring before he could say anything. She pulled it out of her pocket. "It's John, I need to take this." She flipped open her phone and answered it, walking out into the hall so she could have some privacy.

"Hey Lea..." I began after a shot awkward pause. I could tell he was angry at Arlene for not taking these disappearances seriously and I was too but if she didn't want to believe that there was something sinister going on then we couldn't force her too.

"What?" he asked turning his attention back to his cheesecake.

"Who was the last person Aeleus was seen with?"

"Give you one guess." he replied darkly and I immediately knew that is was Xehanort; who else would it be.

"Of course." I muttered shaking my head and stabbing my cheesecake. "Stupid question."

* * *

The next evening I stood out in front of the architectural firm that Lea had been working in all week waiting for him too finish. I looked at my watch, more for want of something to do than any desire to actually know the time. I couldn't help thinking about the conversation Arlene, Lea and I had had the night before; I had honestly thought that Lea and Arlene were going to come to blows at one point if it had carried on any longer.

Luckily after the phone call from John Arlene was more annoyed at him because he had changed all of her hours without telling her until the last minute again. She had come back from the hallway fuming because John had put her down for the late finishes for the whole of next week meaning that, after all the cleaning up and tidying, she wouldn't be leaving till about half past nine at night. Seeing an opportunity to prevent her and Lea from continuing their previous fight I pounced on the opportunity to berate her manager and the evening carried on as normal.

I sighed, checking my watch again without really looking at the time, I was exhausted. Not to sound narcissistic and self pitying but all these disappearances were killing me; I was hardly eating anything and I barely slept at all. I knew I was being stupid getting work up about this – it was surely so much worse for the people who's loved ones had actually disappeared – but I couldn't help wondering if Lea or Arlene or Aerith would be the next one to go missing. It didn't seem likely that they would though; there was a definite type of person that whoever was doing the abducting was going for – big strong men who could handle themselves and be trained to take other people out if they were required too.

"Boo!" Lea shouted in my ear, grabbing my shoulders and making my jump out of my skin. I turned to face him, clutching my racing heart and panting heavily while he laughed his stupid arse off. I glared at him and gave him a shove once my heart rate had returned to normal.

"You're an arse-hole, you know that right?" I told him.

"Aww and that's why you love me!" he grinned moronically as he grabbed my arm and hugged it to his chest.

"Lea!" I pleaded trying to prise myself free. "People are staring."

"Let them stare," he said in faux adoration. "I want the whole world to know how I feel about you." I sighed and began walking away; Lea always did things like this when we were in public because he knew that it made me uncomfortable when people stared at me. "Baby don't walk away from me, you know you're my world!" he called as he ran to catch up with me.

"You're an idiot." I told him once he reached me.

"And that's why you love me." he shot back grinning like a Cheshire cat. I gave him my best 'unimpressed face' and shrugged.

"Eh?"

"Oh that's bloody charming." he said pretending to be hurt.

"Baby you know you're my world." I replied monotonously. Lea gave me a shove before the two of us erupted into a fit of giggles. We continued to walk down the street, still in fits of laughter, when a hurried voice made us both stop.

"Excuse me!" the voice said. Lea and I turned to see a woman, possibly her later thirties/early forties standing behind us. She had long silvery-blue hair and dark eyes which were wide and frantic. She was clutching a photograph and, from the way everyone else seemed to be avoiding her, she had probably been here a good few hours pouncing on anyone she could. "Do you live around here?" she asked frantically.

"Um we live a couple of streets away," Lea said signalling in the direction we had been walking. "but we know the place, why?"

"Do you know the boy in this photo?" she asked giving Lea the photograph, he looked at it and then handed it to me. It was a photograph of a teenage boy who couldn't have been older than fifteen or sixteen and two young girls who looked about six or seven. The girls had lighter hair than their mother but the boy looked the spitting image of her right down to the long silvery-blue hair that he wore with the fringe covering half of his face.

"Yeah," I replied, elongating the word as I realised where I had seen this boy before. "Ienzo right? He works in the chemist's?"

"Yes that's him, he's my son!" the woman exclaimed. "When was the last time you saw him? Please I need to know!"

"Um a couple of days ago, maybe," I replied trying to think. "I'm sorry, I don't go in the chemist's very often. Why?" The woman took back the photograph and sighed, defeated.

"He didn't come home from work last night." she told us. "At first I thought he'd stopped off at a friend's house so when it started getting late I called a few of them and they all said they hadn't seem him. I know people have been going missing around town but I thought, whoever it was, they were after big army men like Aeleus not a someone like Ienzo – he's just a child!"

"I'm sorry." I said trying to sound comforting but not really knowing what to say.

"He might not have been taken, he didn't ever seem unhappy at home did he?" Lea asked in an attempt to be helpful.

"No never." the woman stated, tears forming in her dark eyes. "He was always just Ienzo; a little quiet and shy but he's been like that ever since he was little. I can't think of any reason why he would suddenly decide to run away."

"Have you called the police?" Lea asked and the woman shook her head.

"What would they do?" she asked, anger in her voice. "They're only just beginning a search for Dilan and Braig and they've been missing for weeks now, Ienzo's barely been gone twenty-four hours." I sighed, she was right. The police of this town didn't seem to be taking these disappearances overly seriously, apart from Even's and that's only because his place looked like a murder had been committed there.

"Is there anything we can do?" I asked.

"If you see him please tell my baby to come back home...we need him." she said before dissolving into tears. Lea put an arm around her shoulders and tried his best to comfort her but there was nothing he could do. There was nothing either of us could do, the only thing that would console her would be the return of her son.

"Mummy!" a high-pitched voice cried and Lea, the woman and I turned to see one of the small girls from the photo running towards us. A few feet behind her the other small girl was walking hand in hand with a tall man, with lighter hair than the rest of them but he was unmistakably their father. The woman swiftly wiped the tears away from her eyes and forced herself to smile as her daughter reached us.

"Hi honey," she said picking the small girl up. "are you ok?" The girl nodded.

"We just finished putting up the posters of Ienzo with Daddy." she told her mother before casting a shy glance at myself and Lea. "Mummy, who are these men?" she asked, a little scared.

"These men know Ienzo, they said they'd tell him, when they next see him, that we want him to come home." she told her daughter and I could tell that she was desperately trying to hold it together for her sake. The girl looked up at me and Lea with her huge dark eyes.

"Please tell my big brother to come home, we miss him." she said. I felt a lump rising in my throat but swallowed it down.

"I promise we will." I told her and gave her my friendliest smile.

"Thank you." the woman said giving us both a tearful smiled before turning to meet her husband. Lea and I turned away from the small family and began to make our way back home. Neither of us knew what to say – this was the first person to go missing who didn't seem like they could handle themselves if it came down to a fight, he was the odd one out. I'd met Ienzo a few times and he was just a kid, shy and a little awkward like most boys his age.

"Fuck!" Lea muttered angrily after a moments silence.

"Yeah..." I replied quietly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, me again, hope you're enjoying the story so far and I hope it's not moving too slowly. This is where things are going to start to get interesting...**

I haven't written anything for three days now. Not since Ienzo's mother had told us that he had gone missing. Since she had begged Lea and I to tell him to come home if we saw him my laptop lay untouched and ignored. There was no way that I could have written anything even if I had wanted too; I couldn't bring myself to write a love story when the real world was falling apart around me. I had sat staring at my screen for a few hours the first day but when I realised that there was no way I was going to be able to beat this bout of writer's block I gave up.

Normally I am no stranger to writer's block, it's a bitch to deal with when you do get it but it's just one of those things you have to power through, but this was unlike any writer's block I had ever dealt with. This was the link between reality and my world of fiction finally snapping. I could no longer be the oblivious writer that I used to be – I could no longer retreat into the world of my novel when things deteriorated, that world held little to no comfort for me anymore. Now I was forced to live in the real world and it wasn't the world I remembered it being.

While Lea was at work I had taken to wandering aimlessly around the neighbourhood with no destination and no purpose. As I walked I tried to clear my thoughts and think up the next section of plot so that I could go back home and actually do something productive with my life but every time I managed to tear my thoughts away from them I'd see another 'Missing' poster and my mind would immediately be back on them.

Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus and now Ienzo. Who would be next? The first time we spoke to him, just after Braig had gone missing, Cid had told us not to get involved; we were too young to get involved with nasty business like this (despite the fact that me and Lea are both in our early twenties). Could I just continue to sit by and not get involved if it was one of my friends' faces on a poster? If anything happened to Lea or Arlene I don't think I'd be able to cope. Would they be able to just sit by if I was the next one to go missing?

Lea was already raging about Ienzo's disappearance. He and Arlene had nearly come to blows last night when a discussion about those missing had turned into an argument that had resulted in Arlene walking out. Lea had been saying that something needed to be done about the disappearances, to which Arlene had responded saying 'what can we do'? Lea had then said that he couldn't just sit by and let people go missing like this. Arlene had incredulously asked him what he was honestly planning on doing, which Lea had replied with he didn't know. All he knew was that something needed to be done – Ienzo was just a kid after all. The discussion had escalated rather quickly from there and eventually Arlene had called Lea an 'idiotic hero who was going to get himself killed if he wasn't careful' and Lea had accused Arlene of being a coward. After that she had stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

I had gone after her and seen her home safely then managed to pacify Lea when I returned but they were no longer speaking to each other. What made the situation even more frustrating for me was that both of them were using me as some kind of go-between, each of them ranting and raving to me about the other. I was staying resolutely neutral throughout all of this. I could see both of their premises; Lea was right, something had to be done about all of this and if my suspicions were corrects and Xehanort's aids were involved then they needed to be stopped but at the same time Arlene was right too. What could we do? We were just kids ourselves and there was no guarantee that we would actually be able to do anything to help even if we volunteered to.

All these thoughts were buzzing around in my head like a swarm of angry hornets, certain phrases from different conversations and arguments stinging my brain and reverberating around my skull as I walked the streets aimlessly again. I had just walked passed a poster of Ienzo next to a poster of Dilan and, compared to him, Ienzo had looked so young and helpless. A stabbing pain formed in my chest and Lea's exclamation of 'Ienzo's just a kid' rang in my ears for a moment before a voice brought me out of my reverie.

"Lumaria!" a soft female voice said from behind me. I turned, immediately back in the real world and out of my head, and saw auburn waves and huge green eyes staring at me.

"Aerith," I said dreamily, finally registering her. "hi."

"Hey," she smiled and my chest tightened once again. I hadn't even thought about the possibility that something could happen to her. I had always figured that Cid was keeping such a vigilant eye on his daughter that there was no way she could go missing. Then again there was no guarantee that he would know where she was every hour of every day. "You ok?" she asked when I didn't respond.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied shaking my head and forcing myself to smile. "You?" I asked and she nodded.

"Yeah," she replied. "trying to keep busy."

"Me too." I agreed. I continued to look at her and I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought about the possibility of anything happening to her until now. I would like to put it down to the fact that I'm a scatterbrained writer but there is a point where I have to stop using that as an excuse for only focusing on the immediate. "How's the garden coming?" I asked, suddenly realising that I was staring at her and it was probably rather disconcerting.

"I haven't really had much of a chance to do much to it recently." she replied a little sadly. "Dad doesn't really like me being outside on my own much these days, even if it's just out in front of the house."

"I can understand why." I stated. "Have they heard anything about Ienzo yet?" Aerith shook her head and I could see her eyes glistening as tears began to form.

"No." she replied and her voice did waver slightly as she spoke. "I just don't understand why they would want someone like Ienzo."

"What do you mean?" I asked even though I knew exactly what she meant. Before Ienzo there had been a definite pattern in the people going missing; large, muscular and with some kind of military or martial training.

"All the guys who have gone missing are the soldier types." Aerith replied. "Braig, Dilan, Aeleus and even Even, to an extent, are pretty big guys – they can all handle themselves and it would make sense, if you're rounding up an army to have people like that. Also even if Even can't fight he's got medical training and he's ridiculously smart so he'd be useful in other ways but I just can't seen the use Ienzo would be in that situation."

"Has anyone else gone missing?" I asked not even bothering to pretend to sound casual.

"Not that I've heard of," Aerith replied. "and it's pretty much all people are talking about at the pub these days."

"Is that where you're heading?" I asked and she nodded, the waves in her hair bouncing slightly as she did.

"Dad wants me there pretty much all the time so he can keep an eye on me." she stated a little annoyed. "I can see where he's coming from though." she added sighing.

"He just doesn't want anything to happen to you, that's all." I told her and gave her, what I hoped was, a sympathetic smile.

"I know." she sighed. "I think he's thinking of moving out of here – all these missing people have really freaked him out and if anyone else goes he won't let me stay here."

"Hopefully it won't come to that." I said although in that moment we both knew that this was probably one of the last few times we would see each other. "But if it does," I added trying to sound positive about the situation. "you take care of yourself."

"You too." she smiled. "I'm really glad I met you, Lumaria, I think we would have been good friends if we'd had more time to get to know each other." She stood up on her tip-toes and wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. I hugged back and I wished that I had been allowed more time to get to know her, she never would have replaced Arlene in my heart but we would have been very good friends. She pulled away and smiled even though I could see tears forming in her eyes. "I better go, or Dad will start wondering where I am."

"See you later." I gave her a small wave as she walked away and she waved back before she rounded the corner and out of my sight.

Once she was gone I sighed and turned to go back home, I didn't really feel like being out here on my own for much longer. Aerith was the first friend that I had made, besides Lea and Arlene (who were now at each others throats), that I didn't know through someone else and now I was having to say goodbye to her. I hate this; I don't understand what's happening in this town anymore, it had always seemed like such a safe place to live and now it was somewhere where the residents were looking over their shoulders all the time wondering if they would be the next ones to go missing. As far as I was concerned I didn't care if I was the next one to go missing, I just couldn't face saying goodbye to anymore of my friends.

* * *

A quarter of an hour later I closed the door to mine and Lea's flat and threw my keys down on the desk next to my untouched laptop. I heard the muffled sounds of draws opening and closing and I assumed that Lea was home. A small part of me debated whether to talk to him about Arlene, if nothing else at the moment I could get my two warring friends to reconcile but, so far, each time I had brought one up to the other they had ended up snapping at me so I thought better of it. I was still feeling down about my conversation with Aerith and all I wanted to do right now was have a evening in with Lea and take some time away from thinking about everything going on outside of our flat.

I shrugged off my jacket and hung in over the back of my desk chair and was about to go and make both of us a cup of coffee when a bright red bag by the sofa caught my eye. I went over to it and, on closer inspection, found that it was an old rucksack of Lea's that he hadn't used since we were in high school. It was old and worn, in part held together with patches for bands that weren't even together anymore and the ink from the various small drawings Lea had plastered on it over the years had faded considerably. I stared at it in confusion, why on earth would he be getting that out now? Did he suddenly decide to take my advice and clean out that pigsty of a room of his?

I left the living room and went over to his bedroom, his door was wide open as was his wardrobe and a number of his draws. There was a small pile of clothes on his bed and all the art supply's had been taken out of his tote bag, which he was putting a towel and toothbrush into. He had his usually untameable spikes tied into a low ponytail, too keep them out of his face, he only usually did that when he was drawing. He hadn't seemed to notice me so I softly knocked on his door and he looked round, smiling slightly when he saw me.

"Hey, you ok?" he asked.

"You going somewhere?" I asked, countering his question with my own and leaning against the door frame. He stopped packing for a moment and shuffled awkwardly before looking at me.

"Yeah, my mum heard about the disappearances around town and she wanted me to go home for a few days." he lied rubbing the back of his neck. I could tell he was lying because when he was lying he always maintained eye contact (as if trying to over-compensate for the fact that he should be avoiding it because he was lying) and rubbed the back of his neck at the same time. I folded my arms in front of my chest and looked away from him.

"Lea, I've known you long enough to know when you're lying." I stated. "Just never thought you'd be lying to me." I mumbled a little petulantly. It was true though; in all the years we had known each other Lea had never once lied to me and he had always said that he never would. I heard him take a few steps towards me and then felt his warm hand on my shoulder and I turned to look at him.

"I'm sorry Ria." he said quietly. "I don't know why I just did that."

"So where are you going?" I asked. Lea went back to his packing and I went to sit down on his bed, watching him intently just in case he did lie to me again. He sighed as he began putting the small pile of clothes next to me into the tote bag.

"I'm going to check out that old abandoned castle." he stated, this time truthfully.

"Why?" I asked although I could probably guess why.

"It's the last place Braig was seen and, according to one of the guys at work, Xehanort's weird aids have been hanging out there a lot recently. I thought I'd go and see if I can find some clues to why people have been disappearing round town and why they're so interested in that castle." he replied.

"But you're packing like you're going to be gone for days." I stated.

"Well if I find anything then I'll keep looking, see if I can find where they've all gone and follow them." he explained.

"Lea this is crazy!" I exclaimed. "What if one of those girls finds out and does something too you?"

"I know they're creepy and everything but I'm pretty sure I can handle myself against them." he said rolling his eyes at me.

"What all three of them?" I asked angrily standing up. "Lea there's three of them and you don't know how strong they are or what they're capable of."

"Then I'll make sure I keep out of their way." Lea shot back zipping up his tote bag.

"You can't go alone," I told him. "at least let me come with you."

"I won't be alone." he replied as he began making his way round his room, closing his wardrobe door and his draws as he did. "Isa's coming with me."

"That sycophantic douche-bag from your office?" I asked in mild disgust. I had met Isa 'the blue hair prick' exactly three times before. He worked at the same architectural firm that Lea sometimes work for and each and every time I had met him he had come across as a complete and utter tool. He had been rude, made uncouth (and vaguely sexist) jokes and had given me the same pitying look everyone else gave me when Lea had said that I was a writer but the way he looked at me was different. It wasn't just pitying it was also mocking, almost like he had been saying 'no way in hell that you'll ever be more than a loser who sits on their laptop in make believe world to avoid getting a real job'. In short I thought he was a cock.

"He's not that sycophantic." Lea stated.

"He's still a douche-bag." I shot back, childishly.

"Maybe but he's a douche-bag that might be able to help me find the people who have gone missing." Lea replied. "Besides this was mostly his idea, I'm just going with him because he came up with a plan before I could."

"But why didn't you ask me to come?" I asked. I knew I was sounding like a petulant child but Lea and I had been together through virtually everything and I was rather hurt that he hadn't thought about including me in this venture of his, even though we both knew that I would be less than useless in this kind of situation. I have no fighting skills, very little in the way of perception to things around me and I'm very clumsy and would end up tripping over something and giving away our position to anyone around or seriously hurting myself.

"Because I don't want you getting hurt." Lea stated looking at me, his insanely green eyes taking on a slightly glassy look.

"I don't want you getting hurt either." I replied trying to swallow the lump forming in my throat. I didn't want him to leave. Not when there was a chance that he might not come back. If those girls found that he and Isa were on to them I didn't want to think what they'd do, they looked as if they were capable of just about anything. "Besides you don't have to look after me anymore, I can handle myself." I told him. He put his hand on my shoulder and stared intently into my eyes, taking a deep breath to steady himself.

"I know you can I just don't want you getting hurt because I dragged you out on this crazy venture." he stated and, even though he tried his best to hide it, his voice shook ever so slightly.

"If you think it's crazy then why are you going?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper because if I spoke any louder then I would break down. I was trying to prove to Lea that I could handle myself and I wasn't doing a very good job of it so far.

"Because I can't just sit by and do nothing while kids like Ienzo go missing; he's only sixteen." Lea stated, the look in his eyes turning hard and determined. I opened my mouth to say something in protest but I knew he was right. I placed my hand on top of his and we just stared at each other in silence before something tapped lightly against the window. Lea looked up at the glass then, detaching himself from me, went over to the window and looked out.

"What?" I asked turning to look at him. He sighed heavily, picking up his tote bag and swinging it onto his shoulder.

"That's Isa," he stated. "I better go."

"You're going now?!" I asked my voice coming out in a strangled (and very unmanly) cry. Lea nodded looking at the floor then went into the living room to collect his rucksack, me following close at his heals.

"The sooner we leave the sooner we can come back." he stated and picked up his rucksack before heading to the door. As he passed me my hand shot out and I grabbed hold of his wrist. He turned to look at me and I looked back at him with tear filled eyes.

"Please just come back, ok?" I implored him quietly. I didn't care if when he came home he teased me relentlessly for this for months I just couldn't bare the thought of loosing my oldest friend, not right now. He pulled me into a tight hug and I wrapped my arms around his neck equally as tightly, as if holding him here would keep him from letting go and leaving. Eventually he pulled away but still kept a tight grip on my shoulders.

"Take care of yourself," he told me shakily. "and Arlene too. Tell her I'm sorry for what I said the other night."

"Tell her yourself when you get back." I replied trying to sound light and optimistic. He gave me a watery smile, squeezed my shoulders then turned and left the flat. As soon as he had gone I ran over to the window and saw Isa leaning against one of the other flats waiting for him. Within a few minutes Lea joined him and, after he cast one last look up at me, the two of them walked down the street and out of my sight.

Once they had gone I allowed the tears that had been threatening to spill down my cheeks and I was about to turn away from the window to curl up and cry myself to sleep when another movement in the street below caught my eye. I wiped my eyes and turned to look at the entrance to the alleyway Xehanort's aids had been standing in front of the day we found Even's office ransacked. Leaning against the wall, her arms folded across her chest and a predatory smirk plastered over her face was the tall girl with the dark blue ponytail and the thick black 'X' tattooed on her neck.

She was looking in the direction Lea and Isa had just walked then, almost as if she knew I was watching her, she turned to look up at me. As our eyes met her smirk widened and her eyes darkened threateningly as her shoulders shook with laughter I couldn't hear. She stared at me with those terrifyingly mad eyes and mouthed 'alone at last' and I felt as if all the warmth had been sucked out of the room. Hands shaking slightly I reached forward and pulled the blinds down over the window, not taking my eyes off her until I was completely shut in, but I knew she was still there and that thought made the blood in my veins run cold.

**Uh oh...**


End file.
